Welcome, New Members!

From December 2021 to June 2022, nine people became members of WUU. We will recognize them during this Sunday’s worship service at 10 am. Get to know our newest members by reading their bios below, and be sure to offer them a warm welcome to the community!

Shelby Barnetti

Shelby Barnetti isn’t really from one place. Born to a father in the military, she was raised in New York, Louisiana, Texas, and Florida. During college, she moved abroad, spending two years in Japan and four in Germany. While in Germany, Shelby completed her bachelor’s degree in engineering and, coupled with her fluency in Deutsch, she found success as a project manager.

Two months after having her first child, Shelby returned to the United States in 2013. Despite her credentials, finding a job in a predominantly male career field proved difficult. However, instead of being defeated, Shelby used that as an opportunity to forge a new path. She already had some experience in finance, but she dramatically expanded that knowledge while earning her Series 7, Series 66, and licenses to operate in several states. She is now a full-time Financial Advisor at First Command Financial Services.

Today, Shelby lives with her husband, son, and daughter in Newport News, VA. She enjoys spending time with family, watching junky television, and being in nature. She has been a UU member before and is once again happy to join a community of considerate people who are open to spiritual fulfillment from a variety of inspiring sources.

Satya Chase

After moving to Manassas from Texas  in 2001, I discovered the vibrant Bull Run Unitarian Universalist church close by and became a member. Now, having followed my children to Williamsburg, I found the perfect place to continue my UU journey…. Williamsburg UU.

Spiritually, my heart is with A Course in Miracles and non duality, and I’m hoping to find some like minded friends to continue that study.

Originally from Iowa, I became a shopping center marketing director, first in Cedar Rapids and then to Pensacola FL., doing print, radio and TV advertising, plus special events for regional malls. Retiring from that after several years, I taught myself to make jewelry, but put that’s aside to represent other artists and designers of jewelry and accessories. Moving from Florida to Dallas, I had an accessories showroom in the International Apparel Mart for a few years.

Wanting to be closer to my children, another move brought me to Virginia. Back to jewelry making, I displayed and sold my designs at Artbeat Gallery for nine years.

Early on, I volunteered to care for a dear artist friend who had a terminal illness, which began my dedication to caregiving. The last twenty years have been fulfilling as a private caregiver for a dozen or so individuals, staying with them until they moved on to their next level of care or passed.

I am so grateful for the life enrichment found in Unitarian Universalism, and so happy to be here.

Deborah & Leslie Fabian

Deborah and Leslie are long-time UUs. (Leslie, since 1960!) The Fabians moved here in fall, 2022, from Gallup, New Mexico, where they lived for just three years. Deb worked at the Gallup Indian Medical Center. An orthopedic surgeon and William and Mary grad, she has recently retired after 40+ years in medicine.

Leslie is a retired clinical social worker, psychotherapist, and author of My Husband’s a Woman Now: A Shared Journey of Transition and Love. She holds a master’s degree from Boston College. Both Fabians have completed a two-year training in spiritual guidance through the Rowe UU Conference Center, in Massachusetts.

Prior to living in Gallup, Leslie and Deb resided in Leesville, Louisiana, for four years. Previously, they lived for several decades in Massachusetts, and had a summer home in New Hampshire. Leslie grew up in Tampa, Florida; Deb hails from Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

The Fabians have six grown children, and four grandchildren under the age of four.

Travel (especially to visit their families in Colorado and Utah), biking, counseling others, public speaking about transgender and diversity issues, reading, playing games, and public service of various kinds are among the activities the Fabians enjoy. They plan to take up golf again in the near future, after many years away from the course!

Deborah Gates (not pictured)

Sam Slattery (not pictured)

Eve Stump 

Eve Stump is newly returned to WUU, having grown up here between the ages of 2-14. She has earned both high school and college degrees in her time away and is aiming for at least one more, a medical doctorate. Eve was very involved in her community at college, serving on SGA, running several clubs, singing/performing in on-campus and community productions, tutoring, and much more. She wasted no time jumping back into this community upon her return, sitting on the RE and membership teams and working with the other AV team members behind the scenes on Sundays (and even on the other days too!). Over the past year, she has been working as a medical scribe in Gloucester. Eve is currently deep in the woods of Northern Vermont, working at a kid’s summer camp while she waits hopefully but impatiently for an acceptance from a medical school. When she is at home and relaxing, you can typically find her reading, baking, or doing a craft of some sort.

Al Sutton

Coming from two (2) non-practicing Methodist parents in Florida, I have always been interested in and involved with religious and spiritual activities of different types. My religious search has brought me to several religious backgrounds. All of these religious travels have led me to asking more questions and to questioning more religious answers. I was generally dissatisfied with the more traditional religions and was increasingly having trouble with the concept of “Jesus”: The question asked was, “Does this make me a Methodist Jew?”

Not long after graduation from Florida State University,  I returned home to Miami and started attending the (rather large) U.U. fellowship there. I found a spiritual home.

I have lived in the Winston-Salem, North Carolina area since 1982, wishing to raise my young daughter in a healthier environment than in Miami. I was quite active in the U.U. Fellowship of Winston-Salem.

I have been married since 1974 and have a daughter and two (2) grandchildren. Retiring several years ago from the North Carolina Department of Correction, we moved to Williamsburg to be closer to our family who were already living here.

Jennifer Thurston

Jennifer Thurston is a Virginia native; she grew up in Lancaster, Virginia and moved to Williamsburg to attend William & Mary. She met her husband, Robert, while she was a student and he was a sailor in the Navy. After graduation, she continued living in Williamsburg while commuting to the University of Richmond Law School and her husband commuted to Norfolk. She started a short-lived career in law school administration as an Assistant Dean of Admissions at William and Mary Law School, and then as an Assistant Dean of Career Services, before choosing to stay at home after the birth of her one and only daughter, Seraphina.

Jennifer and Robert have attended WUU off and on over the years – they were actually married by a previous WUU minister, Jennifer Ryu! After the several tumultuous years that this country has endured, Jennifer returned to WUU to seek a safe, like-minded community.

Jennifer currently homeschools her 8 year old daughter, which keeps her, unsurprisingly, busy! In her free time, she volunteers for Meals on Wheels and Heritage Humane Society. She loves escape rooms, animals of all kinds, and creative writing.